Keeping Momma & Babies Long-Term

There's a lot of info on when to take babies from mother... but when can they return to her? We are keeping the babies from a botched humane society neuter and will be getting them all spayed and neutered, but when can they go back to momma after weaning and separating?

They really shouldnt go back with mom.
Bonding a group of bunnies can be a lengthy and often impossible task.
Are you getting mom spayed as well?
A single male/female pair that is spayed and neutered works best.

Yes we are paying and neutering mom and babies. Is there any way to make this work

Once their weened they should all be seperated. Babies apart. Parents apart. Babies away from parents. Give it 6-8weeks after they have all been spayed and neutered and you can attempt bonding pairs or groups but it is hard. You need to be prepared that they may all have to live in their own cages as singles or as pairs only, forever.

You can do a search on here for bonding trios or larger groups. I know there are a few topics about it where people have tried and succeeded and some who have failed. Bunny hormones can cause huge issues with bonding which is why its best to wait until after theyve been fixed and hormones have been given time to leave their system. This is also why baby bonds and keeping them together while younger doesnt count as bonded.

We have them in an open space now a large shed with toys, litter boxes, and a hutch. Are you suggesting we provide separate spaces for each to get away or are you meaning they may never share a community space?

They may never share a community space.

The sooner the babies and parents get spayed and neutered the better chance you have. But its hard to find vets confident enough to do babies younger then 6months. All mine have been about 3months old when spayed/neutered.

Is dad seperate?


http://www.rabbitsonline.net/showthread.php?t=80531

Seven of my bunnies (mom, dad, and five kids) are all bonded. They have their own cages but we let them all out together and if you can see my profile pic they all enjoy it. We got mom spayed first, then dad. The kids were fixed at around 3 to 4 months because the boys had just started to fight a little. We have always kept them close to each other in the same area and dad is free range so he gets to visit everyone when they are in their cages. I never really tried to bond them, it just happened that way.

lucciolato,
We have a mom and five babies. Did you remove the babies for weaning or just supplies them with privacy areas? We have a rabbit room with toys a hutch and some hiding caves for when momma wants a break. She's very attentive always facing her babies and checking on them as oppose to just looking out. She also feeds them 3-4 times a day despite what I've read online about there less than attentive mothering style, but as they mature I know mom will keep them from nursing. If we want them to stay together long term must we still separate them?



Watermelons,
the dad died the day before their surprise birth

At first we kept Mom and the girls together and put the boys together in their own houses because Mom was starting to get overcrowded and you could tell she wanted a break. She was and still is a great and very attentive Mom. Our two girls live together in a hutch and the three boys all have separate cages. We let them out everyday (except after getting fixed because their hormones were still out of whack) to play and stay close to each other. You may not need to separate them but my boys seem to like having a place of their own. Mom has her own space which she only shares with her husbun when we are cleaning.

If its something you want I would go for it. Mine all love being together. They groom each other and they love to cuddle together-they are family. With mine it just kind of fell into place and I think it is because we kept them together and let them interact with each other from birth. I hope it works out for you!

Penny is an entirely new bun after having her babies. She is becoming so much more open toward us and I just can't bare to risk the babies leaving her or ending up in a bad home. I would love to see photos of your set up.

...of course I've got to show the sweet babies

These things are really hard to predict. You have to be very careful sexing all those rabbits to avoid more babies. You can't of course mix males and females before they are ALL neutered and spayed (just having the boys neutered won't prevent them from trying to mount hormonal females and it can end very badly as some females don't take sexual assault kindly). You can try to bond all your rabbits as a group after they are all desexed. It is of course easier if they are free-ranged (as seems to be the case here) because they all have more space to avoid the family members they don't like much. It can work. It can be a disaster. Some of them might not like each other while they like the others. I've met once someone who was in the same situation than you are in. I think she had 7 rabbits (the mother and the babies). 6 of them went along no problem and there was one they ALL hated. In the end, she had to separate the house in two so that the rabbit no one liked (one of the babies) could stay alone. There is also a woman who's got a blog about her rabbits and one of hers (a female this time) ended up hating rabbits as she grew up. She tries to kill the other 3 everytime she sees them so... same thing : separate living spaces. That's the risk of mixing several rabbits - they all got their own personnality. You can't know before they are all grown-up and neutered. Maybe you'll luck out and yours all will turn out being nice and friendly. Just know that bonding rabbits can be very time consuming and nerve-racking. I remember seeing articles and accounts of people having bonded multiple rabbits on this forum. You'll probably find them if you do a research.

Hey, I wouldn't keep them all together once they are older, I had 3 mini lops together till they where 3-4months old sadly 1 passed away and the other two had to be septered, I had mum in with dad while the buck was on his own and so was the doe (her son and daughter) when i had put the mother back in with her daughter they started to fight

So all of them are on there own. Bar from her son that is in with another doe as he doesn't take keen on being alone and i have been trying to breed them for nearly a year with no luck Thankfully they don't fight and like being with each other